Using Written Archives to Discover the History of your House

By Dr Nick Barratt
Last updated 2011-04-27

Tracing the history of your home can shed light on the lives of former residents, key events in your neighbourhood's past, and even the original design of the interior. Follow these tips to find out more about uncovering your house's history.

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Getting started

If you want to find out more about the history of your house, like all good detective stories, your research is likely to lead you down many avenues, some of which will prove to be dead ends. However, this guide should whet your appetite for research and introduce the main documents that you will need to consult to piece together the clues. These will include maps and plans, legal material, records for house occupancy, manorial records, tax returns and sources for 'national' events. In addition it is also possible to reconstruct the original interior appearance of your house through design registers, inventories and insurance records, and bring the past back to life.

First steps

Try to get as much information from previous owners, neighbours, estate agents and solicitors as you can, as there might be old title deeds, photographs or sale catalogues waiting to be uncovered. Similarly, you will find a vast array of sources relevant to your research in Local Study Centres, usually situated in your nearest Branch Library. For example, local newspapers, printed maps and local study publications carry vital information, and will help you to piece together a clearer vision of what the local community was like. As an initial step you should also attempt to 'place' your house in the locality by finding out what parish and manor it was in - this will help you to use a wider selection of documents in your search for clues. There are various publications that can help you do this.

Suggested reading:

Victoria County History series - a county by county history of local places

Expanding your search

Once you have consulted the sources in your Local Study Centre, the next stage is to cast the net more widely and begin looking at more detailed material in local and national archives. You should start with your county or local record office, which will hold the majority of material that is relevant to your area. There are also national institutions such as the National Archives (TNA) that you will probably need to visit as well, containing national records in which your house or its past occupants may feature.

TOP TIP: Many county record offices produce information leaflets (often available on their websites) detailing how to trace the history of your house through their records - do look out for these before starting your research as it will save you a great deal of time!

How to find your archives

The Archon Directory, hosted by the National Archives website, provides contact details for archives all over the UK and beyond

Searching documents for clues

Throughout the centuries, both individuals and governments have been keeping records for a variety of reasons. Today, we can use these records to trace properties through time. There are seven key sources that you might encounter.

Your house

The most important source you should consider is your house itself, as it is literally concrete evidence that contains many architectural clues as to when it was built. It is also important to look at houses nearby to see whether they contain similar features which will also help to date your property. There are basic guides available to help you identify key features.

TOP TIP: Take a picture of your house with you when you visit archives - there may be someone there who can provide advice.

Maps

Local archives will contain miscellaneous estate maps and plans relating to the area in which your house stands. There is also a series of national records that contain additional information about individual properties. For example, the Valuation Survey of 1910-1912 contains both maps and apportionment books that often describe a house, assigning it a value and listing its owners and occupants. Related information can be found in Tithe surveys from the 1840s, and surviving Enclosure awards can also shed light on local landowners. Further information on these highly visual sources can be found at local archives and the National Archives.

TOP TIP: Look at as many maps from as many different periods as you can - you will be able to narrow down your search to a later period by the absence of your house on an earlier map. If you are lucky, you might even find evidence of earlier residences on the current site of your house.

Suggested reading:

Maps and Plans for Family Historians (PRO Publications) - a guide to National Farm Survey, Valuation Survey and Tithe maps at the PRO)

Kain and Oliver's Tithe Maps and Awards - a guide to tithe maps and awards in the PRO.

Titles deeds and conveyancing

Various sources that record the transfer of land or property, such as leases, indentures, sales etc. combine to form the 'deed package'. These are valuable for tracing property ownership, but there is no obvious place to start looking. Previous owners or solicitors may have original deed packages, but as there was no compulsory land registration until 1990 (with voluntary registration only in existence since 1863) it can be difficult to trace title deeds. The transfer of land or property from one individual to another - conveyancing - can be traced through local and national sources that stretch back as far as the twelfth century.

TOP TIP: The National Archives has various information leaflets that cover many records relating to conveyancing and other methods of transferring land. It is important to remember that the working language of legal material remained Latin until as late as 1733, so do beware! There are reference volumes and dictionaries in most county archives and national institutions to help you.

Suggested reading:

Tracing house occupancy

One of the main ways of finding out about your house is by tracing its owners. Genealogy is in itself a fascinating yet potentially lengthy past-time, but you can use a variety of standard sources to find out who lived in your house before you.

Basic sources for tracing occupancy

Census records - available online at a number of commercial sites

Parish registers - accessible at local record offices, with some collections online. Addresses are sometimes provided in these records.

Probate records, wills and administrations sometimes contain addresses - Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills pre-1858 are available online at the National Archives website; the Borthwick Institute holds wills proved in the Prerogative Court of York; local record offices hold wills proved in consistory courts. The system was centralised in 1858.

Inquisitions Post Mortem - available in the National Archives, and some are published by local record societies.

TOP TIP: Many archives have produced leaflets on family history because it is such a popular discipline. These are often available on their websites and can be used in your search for previous occupants of your house.

Manorial records

As you begin to get further and further into the past in your quest, you will need to examine a variety of material that was a product of the manorial system which had developed in England since the Norman Conquest. Each manor had a Lord, who held court sessions on a regular basis that generated documents relating to land tenure. These contain tenancy lists, rentals, surveys, maps and estate documents.

TOP TIP: There is no central place to find manorial documents - they will be scattered between local and national archives and private ownership. The Manorial Documents Register at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/mdr should be your first port of call. Remember that much of the material will be in Latin.

Suggested reading:

Useful tax records

Many taxes through the ages were based on property, and you can use surviving tax returns to trace property through the tax liability of their occupants.

Hearth tax 1662-1688, based on the number of hearths in a property - returns can be found at TNA; see Gibson, The Hearth Tax and other later Stuart Tax Lists and the Association Oath Rolls. Also visit Hearth Tax Online.

Land tax from 1692 - some assessment details (particularly exemptions) at TNA, with more detailed assessments in local record offices; see Gibson and Mills, Land and Window Tax 1690-1950).

Other assessed taxes on property and possession exist (such as window tax from 1696), mainly at TNA.

Other areas of research

Throughout history, national events have had an impact on local society. For example, both the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1539-1542) and the English Civil War (1642-5) saw a vast amount of land change hands in a relatively short period, and records were created as a result. At the other end of the historical scale, applications for planning permission or listing may also survive in local authority archives. You can also successfully use rate books, local directories and electoral lists to help in your research.

Returning your house to its origin

By way of a footnote to house history, you can use the following sources to reconstruct an idea of how your house might have been furnished at various periods.

How we used to live

Probate inventories often list the goods and possessions of the deceased on a room-by-room basis, in some cases clearly described, labelled and valued. These can be found at local and national archives, with some collections online.

'Design registers', held at TNA, provide visual representations and in many cases contemporary examples of patent applications for wallpaper, fixtures and fittings.

Personal diaries often contain intimate descriptions of houses and their contents.

Insurance records, most notably fire insurance claim forms, contain listings and descriptions of houses and their contents. Notable series are contained at the Guildhall Library, London.

Good luck

To conclude, investigating the history of your house is an exciting and informative discipline that will bring you into direct contact with the past. Your research can become as detailed as you want, and will combine elements of local history and genealogy. Above all, it is great fun, so happy hunting!

About the author

Dr Nick Barratt worked at the Public Record Office (now The National Archives, or TNA) from 1996 to 2000, with the family history team. He has given many talks on family history, and has written frequently for the TNA's genealogy journal, Ancestors. He has worked for the BBC as a specialist researcher on programmes such as 'One Foot in the Past','The People Detective' and 'Who Do You Think you Are?'.

BBC links

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